The Orioles starting staff, a supposed strength after baseball czar Mike Elias made a trio of largely middling moves on the margins in that department this offseason, is in dire need of repair, and we’re still weeks from Memorial Day.
Lefty Cade Povich, a depth piece thrust into a regular starting role due to injuries to others, had rebounded from a poor first inning, just as young swingman Brandon Young did the night before, but Povich would not be able to work deep into the ballgame. He left the mound in Miami after three innings and just 43 pitches with what was termed “forearm discomfort,” scary words in pitching parlance right up there with “elbow discomfort.” Povich will get an MRI for further details, but the tone of manager Craig Albernaz sounded ominous.
The Orioles succumbed to the Marlins, 4-3, failing to pick up a sweep when Coby Mayo, playing better at third than expected but still a project there, booted a ball and then short-armed a throw Pete Alonso couldn’t scoop to allow a run to score with two outs in the ninth. Baltimore’s bullpen was great and the at bats were largely of quality and remained promising, with Alonso and rookie Sam Basallo among those with bad luck outs, scalding balls that were somehow snagged, with centerfielder Jakob Marsee doing some of the best work.
“It was a gut punch,” Albernaz said. “That was a tough one today with Povich coming out with the elbow.”
Marlins starter Max Meyer has been nasty this season and the O’s made him work, battled, and got into the bullpen, but could not maintain the torrid clutch hitting that carried them in the first two games of the series. Of far greater concern is what becomes of this rotation now.
Opening Day starter Trevor Rogers should be back from sickness soon, but he’s bene relentlessly hit-able and nothing like the improbable run from last season. Free agent Zach Eflin is already lost for the season, and Kyle Bradish (5.03 ERA) has not been able to command coming back from Tommy John surgery. Chris Bassitt (5.91), 37, looks far too much like Charlie Morton from a year ago than anyone would like: Dean Kremer’s return from the Injured List still sounds nebulous at best. Shane Baz, who cost the O’s a bevvy of prospects from Tampa, has provided length but not sufficient quality (4.99).
Povich, who walked No. 2 hitter Connor Norby on four pitches early before giving up a homer to Liam Hicks, was coming off a rough start in The Bronx (nothing went right for any O’s pitcher there). But he’s a rare lefty arm available to start in this organization and he has an interesting pitch mix and was positioned at least on the periphery of this rotation.
Povich threw almost exclusively fastballs, which is odd given his robust arsenal, and showed no outward signs of distress before the change was made.
“He said he felt it in the second and it really tightened up in the third,” Albernaz said. “It’s on the outside of his elbow.”
Bullpen, Bats Responded
Yennier Cano was rushed into action Thursday far earlier than the late-inning specialist is used to, replacing Povich in the fourth with The Birds down, 3-1. He was excellent for two innings, as was Deitrich Ens, and Keegan Akin got himself into a jam in the 8th and then got out of it.
Slumping Gunnar Henderson had a much-needed early RBI single, Dylan Beavers kept finding gaps where the Marlins gloves couldn’t intervene, struggling Tyler O’Neill cut down his swing and went opposite field for an RBI and Alonso, who can’t stop hitting the ball 100 mph off the bat in this ballpark, tied the game in the 8th with a cracked bat base hit.
Bird Seed
Mayo remained at third in the ninth despite his defensive shortcomings with Blaze Alexander already coming in the game as a pinch runner for second-baseman Jeremiah Jackson … Adley Rutschman has been locked in from both sides of the plate, including before and immediately after a brief IL stint, and was excellent again Wednesday. He was given Thursday off, and wasn’t in the lineup Tuesday, either, and has rarely been asked to start more than four games in a row, let alone catch four games in a row. It’s all a little baffling. The Orioles have played 38 games; Rutschman has caught just 20 of them and with this team off to a brutal start, it’s, frankly, been puzzling winhy they can’t ride the player after essentially two years of being lost at the plate. Albernaz said the team is being “overly cautious” with the former first-overall pick when probed about his lineup before the game. Hmm. Whatever. Sounds like typical overthinking and extreme coddling from Elias …
Colton Cowser went 0-for-4 with two more strikeouts in a rare start. He also cannot play centerfield nearly as well as Leody Taveras and while he has abundant arm strength his accuracy was an issue again Thursday. He was the only starter not to reach base for Baltimore.
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